JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi man long active in Republican politics has started working in a top job at the Federal Railroad Administration.Heath Hall was chosen as the agency’s deputy administrator by Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. He was sworn in Friday.

Hall grew up in Natchez, graduated from American University in Washington in 1992 and started his career as an intern at the Federal Railroad Administration.

In the mid-1990s, he worked as public affairs director for Gov. Kirk Fordice, the first Republican governor of Mississippi since Reconstruction.

Hall ran unsuccessfully for a U.S. House seat in southwestern Mississippi in 1998. Since then, he has worked in several other public affairs jobs in the state.

The Federal Railroad Administration has a $1.8 billion budget, more than 900 employees and eight regional office